Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship
Vermont lawmakers are considering a bill that would bar law enforcement officers from concealing their faces while interacting with the public.
The bill, S.208, was introduced amid rampant immigration enforcement in Minnesota, where masked federal agents have fatally shot two U.S. citizens in recent weeks.
Supporters of the Vermont bill say the proposal is about public trust, while law enforcement officials have raised questions about how it would be enforced.
“We all deserve to feel safe in our communities,” Jordan Souder, a policy advocate for the American Civil Liberties Union of Vermont, told the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this month. “Community safety requires public trust in law enforcement.”
Sponsored by Sen. Nader Hashim, D-Windham, a former Vermont state trooper, and 12 other state senators, the bill would prohibit law enforcement officers from wearing masks or disguises while on duty, with few exceptions. Officers would also be required to display their name, badge number or both on their uniforms.
Exceptions could be made for wearing masks to protect against illness, smoke and other hazards or if officers are working undercover, which some officials argue could create loopholes that make enforcement more difficult.
Officers who violate the requirements could face a fine of up to $1,000 and lose their law enforcement certification. If signed into law, the bill would take effect July 1.
In testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 14, Souder said federal immigration officials frequently wear uniforms that say “police” but without other identifying details. He suggested the bill be amended to require officers to also display the name of their agency on their uniforms.
People lose trust when they can’t tell who is carrying out an arrest, he said.
“Trust can be undermined when we have armed, masked federal agents wearing plain clothes, driving around in unmarked vehicles, going around arresting members of our community without warrant, warning or identification,” Souder said. “Without identification, they seem to act with impunity, with very little oversight or accountability.”
Will Lambek of the advocacy group Migrant Justice testified Jan. 14 that federal agents in Vermont have been seen wearing masks and civilian clothing and driving unmarked vehicles. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents aren’t wearing lanyards with identifying information as they had in the past, Lambek said.
Meanwhile, there’s been a sharp increase in enforcement, according to Lambek. He said enforcement activity in the state has increased more than tenfold and that federal agents have detained more than 100 people in Vermont in the past year.
“It’s really quite difficult to underscore the sense of crisis and psychic trauma that that number of detentions brings,” he said. “Detention represents a family that’s being separated and a community that’s being terrorized.”
But some state officials aren’t sold on the bill, including Jennifer Morrison, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Public Safety, who spoke to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 15. She suggested the Vermont Criminal Justice Council, which establishes a code of conduct for police officers, could take up the issue instead of addressing it in a lengthy statute with numerous exemptions. Allowing officers to wear medical-grade masks, for instance, could easily be abused, Morrison said.
“I actually think there’s a better path forward to achieve the same goal,” she said.
“The exceptions make it more likely that you’re going to get people who wear them and claim an exception that is not necessarily what you were after in drafting this bill,” she later added.
Committee members also discussed potential legal challenges to the bill. The U.S. Department of Justice sued the state of California last fall after lawmakers there approved a similar bill. The suit says that the mask ban is unconstitutional and subjects officers to harassment.
“Law enforcement officers risk their lives every day to keep Americans safe,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement at the time. “They do not deserve to be doxed or harassed simply for carrying out their duties.”
Columbia Law School professor Jessica Bulman-Pozen, who also testified to the committee, told the Community News Service that the feds would likely sue the state if the bill becomes law. But she thinks the bill is legally sound because it would treat all law enforcement officers equally.
“I think Vermont has very strong arguments if it passes the current version of (the bill) or something similar into law about why the federal government is wrong,” she said.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to discuss and possibly vote on the bill Friday, Jan. 30.